On March 11, 2025, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) hosted a conference “Extra-Regional actors in the Middle East”. The goal of the meeting was to discuss the Middle East’s external players' policies transformation in changing conditions and their role in regional processes. The substantive basis of the conference was the RIAC report “Extra-Regional actors in the Middle East”, authored by Russian experts on Middle East and Middle Eastern politics of external players.
The welcome remarks were delivered by: Ivan Timofeev, RIAC Director General; Alexander Aksenenok, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation, RIAC Vice-President; Aleksey Vasiliev, Honorary President of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), RIAC Member.
On March 11, 2025, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) hosted a conference “Extra-Regional actors in the Middle East”. The goal of the meeting was to discuss the Middle East’s external players' policies transformation in changing conditions and their role in regional processes. The substantive basis of the conference was the RIAC report “Extra-Regional actors in the Middle East”, authored by Russian experts on Middle East and Middle Eastern politics of external players.
The welcome remarks were delivered by: Ivan Timofeev, RIAC Director General; Alexander Aksenenok, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation, RIAC Vice-President; Aleksey Vasiliev, Honorary President of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), RIAC Member.
Plenary session was attended by Vladimir Morozov, Vice-Rector for HR, Associate professor at the Department of Diplomacy, MGIMO University; Vasily Kuznetsov, Deputy Director for Science of the Institute of Oriental Studies (IOS) of the RAS, RIAC Member; Nikolay Sukhov, Senior Research Fellow of the IOS RAS. Svetlana Gavrilova, RIAC Director of Programs, moderated the session.
During the first session, the presentation of the RIAC report, “Extra-Regional actors in the Middle East”, was held. The experts discussed regional strategies of Russia, USA, EU, China and India. Speakers in this session were the report authors: Alexander Aksenenok, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation, RIAC Vice-President; Alexander Lomanov, Acting Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the RAS, RIAC Member; Alexey Kupriyanov, Head of Center of the Indo-Pacific Region of the IMEMO RAS; Lida Oganisyan, Associate Professor of the Department of International Organizations and Global Political Processes of the School of World Politics MSU. The session was moderated by Ivan Bocharov, RIAC Program Manager.
The second session was devoted to the role of extra-regional actors in the Middle East conflicts. Participants exchanged views on the involvement of external actors in Middle East conflicts, their influence on regional processes and role in resolving conflicts. Reports were presented by: Andrey Evseenko, Deputy Director for Science of the Institute for U.S. and Canada Studies; Vassily Kashin, Director of the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies at HSE University, RIAC member; Pyotr Topychkanov, Head of Section for New Challenges in South and Southeast Asia IMEMO RAS; Andrey Zeltyn, Senior Lecturer at the HSE University School of Asian Studies. Ruslan Mamedov, Scientific Advisor of the Evgeny Primakov Center for International Cooperation, Senior Researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies of the IOS RAS, moderated the session.
The fourth session was dedicated to the perception of extra-regional actors by the Middle East countries in the context of their pursuit for establishing pragmatic and balanced relations with external partners. Speakers in this session were: Nikolai Surkov, Senior Researcher of the Center for the Middle East Studies of the IMEMO RAS; Vladimir Sazhin, Senior Researcher at the Center for Middle East Studies of the IOS RAS; Amur Gadzhiev, Researcher at the Center Middle East Studies of the IOS RAS; Luisa Khlebnikova, Researcher at the Department of Israel and the Jewish Communities of the IOS RAS; Viktor Smirnov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russian Federation, Head of the Department of Israel and Jewish Communities of the IOS RAS. The session was moderated by Grigory Lukyanov, Researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies of the IOS RAS.
Leading Russian experts on the Middle East and Middle Eastern politics of external players also participated in the discussion.
